A Mellotron, an early form of music sampler, used extensively in the late 1960s and early 1970s

The use of electronic music technology in rock music coincided with the practical availability of electronic musical instruments and the genre's emergence as a distinct style. Rock music has been highly dependent on technological developments, particularly the invention and refinement of the synthesizer, the development of the MIDI digital format and computer technology.

In the late 1960s, rock musicians began to use electronic instruments, like the theremin and Mellotron, to supplement and define their sound; by the end of the decade the Moog synthesizer took a leading place in the sound of emerging progressive rock bands who would dominate rock in the early 1970s. In the 1980s, more commercially oriented synthpop dominated electronic rock. In the new millennium the spread of recording software led to the development of new distinct genres including electroclash, dance-punk and new rave.

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The first commercial Moog synthesizer, commissioned by the Alwin Nikolais Dance Theater of NY in 1964

Experiments in tape manipulation or musique concrète, early computer music and early sampling and sound manipulation technologies paved the way for both manipulating and creating new sounds through technology. The world's first computer to play music was CSIRAC in 1950-1, designed and built by Trevor Pearcey and Maston Beard and programmed by mathematician Geoff Hill.[1][2] Early electronic instruments included the theremin, which uses two metal antennas that sense the position of a player's hands and control oscillators for frequency with one hand, and amplitude (volume) to produce an eerie but difficult to manipulate sound. It was used by avant garde and classical musicians in the early twentieth century and was used on a large number of 1940s and 50s science fiction films and suspense.[3]

Electronic musical synthesizers that could be used practically in a recording studio became available in the mid-1960s, around the same time as rock music began to emerge as a distinct musical genre.[4] The Mellotron, an electro-mechanical, polyphonicsample-playback keyboard, which used a bank of parallel linear magnetic audio tape strips to produce a variety of sounds enjoyed popularity from the mid-1960s.[5] The initial popularity of the Mellotron would be overtaken by the Moog synthesizer, created by Robert Moog in 1964, which produced completely electronically generated sounds which could be manipulated by pitch and frequency, allowing the "bending" of notes and considerable variety and musical virtuosity to be expressed. The early commercial Moog synthesiser was large and difficult to manipulate, but in 1970 Moog responded to its use in rock and pop music by releasing the portable Mini-moog, which was much simpler, easier to use, and proved more practical for live performance.[6] Early synthesisers were monophonic (only able to play one note at a time), but polyphonic versions began to be produced from the mid-1970s, among the first being the Prophet-5.[7]

In the new millennium, as computer technology become more accessible and music software has advanced, interacting with music production technology is now possible using means that bear no relationship to traditional musical performance practices:[9] for instance, laptop performance (laptronica)[10] and live coding.[11] In the last decade a number of software-based virtual studio environments have emerged, with products such as Propellerhead's Reason, Ableton Live and Native Instruments Reaktor finding widespread appeal.[12] Such tools provide viable and cost-effective alternatives to typical hardware-based production studios, and thanks to advances in microprocessor technology, it is now possible to create high quality music using little more than a single laptop computer. Such advances have been seen as democratizing music creation,[13] leading to a massive increase in the amount of home-produced electronic music available to the general public via the internet.[10]

Synthesisers were not universally welcomed by rock musicians in the 1970s. Some bands, including Queen, stated on their album liner notes that they did not use synthesisers.[33] Similarly, early guitar-based punk rock was initially hostile to the "inauthentic" sound of the synthesiser,[34] but many new wave and post-punk bands that emerged from the movement began to adopt it as a major part of their sound.[35] The American duo Suicide, who arose from the post-punk scene in New York, utilized drum machines and synthesizers in a strange hybrid between electronics and post punk on their eponymous 1977 album.[36] Together with British bands Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire, they moved on to use a variety of electronic and sampling techniques that emulated the sound of industrial production to produce industrial music.[37]

The definition of MIDI and the development of digital audio made the creation of purely electronic sounds much easier.[47] This led to the growth of synthpop, by which, particularly through their adoption by the New Romantic movement, synthesizers came to dominate the pop and rock music of the early 80s.[48] The early sound of synthpop was "eerie, sterile, and vaguely menacing", but more commercially orientated bands like Duran Duran adopted dance beats to produce a catchier and warmer sound.[48] They were soon followed into the charts by a large number of bands who used synthesizers to create three-minute pop singles. These included New Romantics who adopted an elaborate visual style that combined elements of glam rock, science fiction and romanticism such as Spandau Ballet, A Flock of Seagulls, Culture Club, ABC, Soft Cell, Talk Talk, B-Movie and the Eurythmics, sometimes using synthesizers to replace all other instruments,
[49] until the style began to fall from popularity in the mid-1980s.[48]

This period also saw the rise of artists who combined industrial rock and metal. Ministry and Nine Inch Nails both recorded platinum-selling albums.[51][52] Their success led to mainstream attention other industrial musicians; including Foetus and Coil. The mid-90s was a high point for industrial rock, when, in addition to bands that had been around since the 1980s, newer bands such as KMFDM and Gravity Kills emerged as commercial acts.[53]

In the 2000s, with the increased accessibility of computer technology and advances in music software, it became possible to create high quality music using little more than a single laptop computer.[10] This resulted in a massive increase in the amount of home-produced electronic music available to the general public via the expanding internet,[54] and new forms of performance such as laptronica[10] and live coding.[11] These techniques also began to be used by existing bands, as with industrial rock act Nine Inch Nails' album Year Zero (2007),[51] and by developing genres that mixed rock with digital techniques and sounds, including indietronica, electroclash, dance-punk and new rave.

Ladytron in 2008, originally categorised as electroclash they helped revive interest in synthpop

Renewed interest in electronic music and nostalgia for the 1980s led to the beginnings of a synthpop revival, with acts including Adult and Fischerspooner. In 2003-4 it began to move into the mainstream with Ladytron, the Postal Service, Cut Copy, the Bravery and The Killers all producing records that incorporated vintage synthesizer sounds and styles which contrasted with the dominant sounds of post-grunge and nu-metal. In particular the Killers enjoyed considerable airplay and exposure and their debut album Hot Fuss (2004) reached the Billboard Top Ten.[71] The Killers, the Bravery and the Stills all left their synthpop sound behind after their debut albums and began to explore classic 1970s rock.[72]